Mike Brewer - why's he allowed on the telly?

Mike Brewer - why's he allowed on the telly?

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Stu R

Original Poster:

21,410 posts

214 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Probably been ranted about before, but having sat and watched one of his rubbish auto trader programmes I can't help myself. ranting

Seriously, what is this gasbag on? The rubbish he spews out is incredible.
Case study, the episode on Discovery Turbo that's just finished.

Some guy is looking for a diesel powered repwagon that "looks cool" (good luck with that one) as he's opting out of his company car scheme and buying privately.
So, Brewer puts forward the BMW 320 Diesel, the new Lexus IS200, and the Ford Mondeo, all at 20k.
Why must this festering idiot constantly try and make the slightest niggle in what I'm fairly sure is a very limited number of cases seem like a critical problem that effects every one ever made. For example, BMW 3 series will magically excrete it's wishbones that'll cost you 600 quid plus, has problems with airbag lights that will cost 100 quid and so on.

A couple of classic phrases were thrown in the mix along the lines of;
"The BMW 320 diesel is a cracker and has 175bhp, they also do a 3 litre version but I reckon that's a bit too powerful for you, and the 320 diesel will suit your job more. It'll also mean you won't get stung for company car tax."
First off, the 330D is by no stretch of the imagination overly powerful, sure it's not a bad Diesel, but it's hardly a 1000bhp hairy, rip roaring, flame spitting drag car is it? My mother who's damn near a little old lady had one ffs!
And how exactly is the 320D any less likely to get stung for corporate car tax when 2 minutes before you told us he's buying privately?

Next we have Mike's top tips for spotting "lemons".
Ironically in this case a bright yellow MG / rover 25 in a dress. Great, this'll prove handy.
So we begin with the most wooden and scripted "punter" being given help from mike.
First thing he points out is the overspray on the inside of the door, with some yellow paint on the rubbers protecting the electricals. Fair enough, could well have been sprayed after an accident.
Now we move under the bonnet where there was apparantly overspray, which seemed to be invisible, and oh what's this? Apparantly there's some yellow paint marker on a part, i.e a part number / code. Mike says it's obviously had some repair work done. Either that or it's had something replaced under the bonnet. Scary stuff, car's that actually might need parts at some point in their life, or god forbid they may have marked their parts at the factory like ford and nissan.
So we take a quick break and come back and apparantly the would be punter has ran an HPI check and it comes back through as having a cat D write off.
Brewer's reaction to this was just rediculous, not word for word but it was something along the lines of ;
" That means it's had a really heavy bang and been written off, someone's gone and dug it out from the scrap yard, repaired and re-registered it. It's worth a maximum of the 1500 quid, not the 3 grand advertised". Nothing too serious, but what? who said the car had ever seen a scrap yard? I had a fiesta from new which took a bit of a bang and was cat D, took a new bumper, headlight, wing, and some panel beating professionally to put it back to fords standards. Why on earth would it end up at a scrap yard and not spend a week in a body shop?
Why not just tell him the truth and explain what a Cat D entails instead of painting the worst possible picture?
Picked up on loads of things when I was watching that I've missed / can't be bothered to whinge anymore, but by hell that man can talk some rubbish.

Right that's my rant over. I know it's not made for the car enthusiast, but he really does nothing for the already dubious image of your average high street second hand car dealer. He really is nothing more than a bag of wind and pi$$.

Rant over, sorry boxedin

bob1179

14,107 posts

208 months

Monday 16th April 2007
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Is he that bloke with a 'cheeky chappie' laaaandan accent?

If so, he is a prat.

CommanderJameson

22,096 posts

225 months

Monday 16th April 2007
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Is he the feller who described the Vauxhall Zafira as a "great drive"?

Berk.

ETA: Yes, he is.



Edited by CommanderJameson on Monday 16th April 06:45

nervous

24,050 posts

229 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
time is on my side on this one.

aaawldaaatyeraaanfellalesssavadeal.

Carfiend

3,186 posts

208 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
What about the show he does Wheeler Dealers where he buys an old car that is a good example and not some of the rotten heaps about. Chucks it to a mechanic to fix the few little issues, usually a bit of body work and a new alternator etc... then sells it for about 20p more than he bought it for and says its a profit.

Moron rolleyes

rsv gone!

11,288 posts

240 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
He's on telly to fill non-premium channel airtime. He is the Alan Partridge of the motoring world.

Still rather watch him than 1001 house revamp/buying programmes though.

rsv gone!

11,288 posts

240 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Carfiend said:
What about the show he does Wheeler Dealers where he buys an old car that is a good example and not some of the rotten heaps about. Chucks it to a mechanic to fix the few little issues, usually a bit of body work and a new alternator etc... then sells it for about 20p more than he bought it for and says its a profit.
What always cracks me up about that programme is that he completely forgets to factor in the cost of the time of his mechanic.

That could also apply to the myriad of do-it-up house programmes. Usually, the only reason they made money was down to the rising house market.

Marki

15,763 posts

269 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
CommanderJameson said:
Is he the feller who described the Vauxhall Zafira as a "great drive"?

Berk.

ETA: Yes, he is.



Edited by CommanderJameson on Monday 16th April 06:45



He is a nob of the highest order , the series on Discovery channel are laughable

mat205125

17,790 posts

212 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Carfiend said:
What about the show he does Wheeler Dealers where he buys an old car that is a good example and not some of the rotten heaps about. Chucks it to a mechanic to fix the few little issues, usually a bit of body work and a new alternator etc... then sells it for about 20p more than he bought it for and says its a profit.

Moron rolleyes


yes

AND that is after he has driven the entire length of the country to view and purchase said car, using £100 of fuel in the process.

Nicholas Blair

4,096 posts

283 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
His most awful line is when he meets anyone "Ello fella"

Eric Mc

121,784 posts

264 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Unfortunately, it is now difficult to avoid him as his programmes seem to make up an awfully high percentage of the new channel "Discovery Turbo".

Bring back "Discovery Wings".

Nicholas Blair

4,096 posts

283 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Ed China makes repairs look pretty simple though.

sheepy

3,164 posts

248 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
rsv gone! said:
Carfiend said:
What about the show he does Wheeler Dealers where he buys an old car that is a good example and not some of the rotten heaps about. Chucks it to a mechanic to fix the few little issues, usually a bit of body work and a new alternator etc... then sells it for about 20p more than he bought it for and says its a profit.
What always cracks me up about that programme is that he completely forgets to factor in the cost of the time of his mechanic.

That could also apply to the myriad of do-it-up house programmes. Usually, the only reason they made money was down to the rising house market.
They also sell a high percentage of the cars to members of the production team!

Moose.

5,339 posts

240 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Carfiend said:
What about the show he does Wheeler Dealers where he buys an old car that is a good example and not some of the rotten heaps about. Chucks it to a mechanic to fix the few little issues, usually a bit of body work and a new alternator etc... then sells it for about 20p more than he bought it for and says its a profit.

I happen to quite enjoy that programme. The idea of buying a cheapish car and doing it up to sell for profite really appeals to me. The whole idea of the show is, you'll be the one doing the work, hence why Ed's time isn't factored into the total cost.

And, if don't like a show, don't bloody watch it!

Eric Mc

121,784 posts

264 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
I don't.

The point wasn't so much about any one show, but about Brewer and his style. He has hosted many different shows on TV, most famously Channel 4's "Driven".

He particularly "endeared" himself to Caterham 7 owners a few years ago by essentially rubbishing the car in a comparison test with the Lotus Elise and MGF.
When he bumped into the Lotus 7 Club contingent at Le Mans the following year, they put him right

Bedford Rascal

29,469 posts

243 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
nervous said:
time is on my side on this one.

aaawldaaatyeraaanfellalesssavadeal.
ranting

nervous

24,050 posts

229 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Bedford Rascal said:
nervous said:
time is on my side on this one.

aaawldaaatyeraaanfellalesssavadeal.
ranting


day: made.

wavey

morningside

24,110 posts

228 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
Unfortunately, it is now difficult to avoid him as his programmes seem to make up an awfully high percentage of the new channel "Discovery Turbo".
Bring back "Discovery Wings".

This seems to be a trend on satellite. Create a 'new' channel and use it to re-re-re-re-repeat all the old crap from the other Discovery channels.

I must admit I did like the buy it-restore it-sell it programme but they always seem to fail in making a sizeable (if any) profit and also ignored the fact of wages to be taken into effect.

mat205125

17,790 posts

212 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
morningside said:
Eric Mc said:
Unfortunately, it is now difficult to avoid him as his programmes seem to make up an awfully high percentage of the new channel "Discovery Turbo".
Bring back "Discovery Wings".

This seems to be a trend on satellite. Create a 'new' channel and use it to re-re-re-re-repeat all the old crap from the other Discovery channels.

I must admit I did like the buy it-restore it-sell it programme but they always seem to fail in making a sizeable (if any) profit and also ignored the fact of wages to be taken into effect.


V V true. Your end £ per hour "wage" is generally p!ss poor.

mackie1

8,153 posts

232 months

Monday 16th April 2007
quotequote all
The funny thing about Wheeler Dealers for me is the mechanic guy. "This is an easy job, all you need is a few spanners, oh and a 4 post lift". Well thank you very much! I'm sure swapping out an exhaust IS easy and hassle free when you have expensive specialist equipment!